"Now what?"

The other night I was on the phone with one of my friends. She was confused with the direction life was taking her because it seemed as if everything she tried out for or applied for, she was declined. “Now what?” she asked me over the phone after listing off opportunities that did not fall in her favor. I struggled to put words together to make her feel comforted. I have seen this lady succeed in many things and this point had never existed before. The words lingered in my mind during the duration of the conversation, “Now what?”

Since we were little kids, we did silly tasks or chores for rewards. The feeling of victory or an extra $2.00 in our pocket, we enjoyed the reward. But once we succeeded to get that reward, we went to the next project or duty, asking ourselves, “Now what?” We craved the feeling of accomplishment. You see, I am blessed to have a tight relationship with my two sisters but we are definitely at different stages in our lives. My sister Sara recently got engaged. Planning her wedding is the next step in addition to working her job at AgStar. Jill, or Jilly, is a recent graduate student at University of Missouri (Go Mizzou!) studying nutrition. And as for myself, I am a student who has fun with FFA members. Among us Larson sisters, we all achieve different rewards. Our “Now what?” seems to be at different stages in our lives. What stage are you in?

We all make some sort of progression in our life. We complete one goal or finish attending a class or trip and we ask ourselves, "now what?" Christmas is coming up soon and once December 26th hits, many people will throw their trees on the curbside thinking, "now what?" We are a progressive society that always keeps our minds on the next BIG thing! We thirst for the next opportunity to focus on, but sometimes that is difficult to do. Not everything goes as planned and we again ask ourselves, "now what?" 

Let's look at it at a different angle. It’s all too easy to compare our beginning to someone else’s middle. Being the livestock showing freak that I am, I find this photo worthy to share. ------------->

Take 7 seconds and think of someone you look up to. Someone who is confident in his or her shoes. Someone who is skillful and knowledgeable. Have that person in mind? Do you think that their pathway to get to where they are was fun, easy, and painless? Please tell me you answered no. Think of how many times that person questioned their motives and direction. Think of how many times they asked themselves, “Now what?” after standing up after a failure or hardship. Maybe that’s a reason why you look up to that person, because they stood their ground no matter what tried to break them down. What does it take to be like that person you admire so much? What does it take to know that the “Now what?” question you might ask yourself might lead to some pretty extraordinary things. What’s your answer going to be after you ask yourself “Now what?”